Stone Cold Heart
by aixla
Summary: Willow learns a lesson the hard way.


Title: Stone Cold Heart   
Author: Ailie McFarland   
E-Mail: aixla@juno.com   
Fandom: BtVS   
Spoilers: "Flooded" (slight for "All The Way")   
Rating: PG-13   
Archive: http://www.geocities.com/aixla/fanfic.html ~ or ~ http://home.earthlink.net/~aixla   
Distribution: Oh! Well, if it helps at all, I'm gonna say yes.   
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never has been. Never will be.   
  
Author's Note: I'm expecting to get Jossed on this one (not with the Oz part, but with the general concept). Actually, I'm mad at myself because I have seen this coming and had the idea for a while, but never got around to putting it down on paper. Now I'm writing the obvious. Sigh.   
  
REQUEST: I got Willow's Latin from an online dictionary. If you speak the language and realize I'm not making sense (which I'm sure I'm probably not) please e-mail me to let me know!   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
The knock at the door caught Willow by surprise. Buffy was on patrol with Spike, Dawn was staying with at a friend's house, and Xander, Tara, and Giles were helping Anya do inventory at the Magic Shop. In fact that was where she needed to be herself, so as she opened the door Willow resolved to get rid of whomever was on the porch as quickly as etiquette would allow.   
  
Of course, all that flew right out the window when she realized who was standing in front of her.   
  
"Oz?"   
  
"Hey." He was slightly shaggier than she remembered, sporting a crop of red hair that almost covered his ears. It appeared he had decided to revert to his natural hair color, although Willow couldn't be sure since she had no idea what that natural color might be.   
  
As she fell into his friendly embrace, she realized he felt the same as well. His scent had changed slightly; he smelt more of nature and incense than smokey clubs and guitar strings. Still, being this close was enough to stir that little bit of her that would never quite get over their relationship.   
  
A slightly awkward silence fell as Oz stepped over the threshold and Willow closed the door behind him. "So," she grasped for words. "What are you doing back in Sunnydale?"   
  
"A little bit of business," he replied, rocking back on his heels. "But it can wait. I was hoping we could do some catching up first."   
  
Willow smiled. "Of course. Come in." She led her guest into the living room of the Summers' home. "Can I get you something?"   
  
Oz settled himself on the couch. "Yeah. Coffee'd be nice. Been driving all day."   
  
Buffy had consumed the last of the coffee on her way out the door that morning, but a little thing like that wasn't going to keep Willow from serving her guest. "Infervesco scaphium." She had no sooner spoken the words when two steaming mugs of the dark liquid materialized on the coffee table. Pleased with herself, Willow sipped from hers and smiled at Oz.   
  
But Oz did not return the smile, and made no move to raise the mug from the table.   
  
"What's wrong?" Willow tilted her head to the side, concerned.   
  
Oz cleared his throat. "Actually, that's why I'm here."   
  
"For coffee? 'Cause that's pretty much a worldwide phenomenon."   
  
"No." He took a deep breath. "Giles called me last week."   
  
"He called you?" Willow was confused. "How could he do that? None of us knew where you were."   
  
Oz avoided her eyes. "After what happened last time, he agreed to help with some research, keep his eyes open for anything that might help with my ... new situation. So I always made sure to keep him updated on my whereabouts."   
  
"But you didn't bother to tell me?" The hurt was evident in her voice. "What, you didn't trust me or you didn't want to be bothered by me?"   
  
"Neither. I just figured I'd disrupted your life enough. And that you and Tara needed your privacy."   
  
Realizing that he had made somewhat of a valid point, Willow let him continue.   
  
"He's worried about you, Willow. I am too."   
  
"Worried about ..." She thought back to the conversation she and Giles had in the kitchen a few weeks prior to this. "Is this about Buffy? Did he tell you what I did?"   
  
Oz nodded.   
  
"And what, you don't think it was a good idea? You think she's better off in the ground or in some hell dimension than here with her family?" Her voice rose in anger. "It's not like I rushed into it or anything. I planned it for months. I did tons of research. I weighed the consequences and the outcomes and decided Buffy was worth the risks. And it wasn't just me. Xander, Anya, and Tara were all on board."   
  
He tried to calm her. "I don't doubt that. And I'm not here to pass judgement on what you did. I wasn't here. I don't know what happened."   
  
"That's right. And neither was Giles." Suddenly realizing that Oz was somewhat in agreement with her, Willow paused. "Then why are you here?"   
  
"Because he says you've changed. That since this succeeded you seem to think you can do anything and everything with magic."   
  
"Well not everything, but a lot." Willow admitted. "I'm much more powerful than I was when you left."   
  
Oz sighed. "I know. But just because you have that power doesn't mean you can do whatever you want with it."   
  
"I know what I'm doing." Anger was making her restless, so she stood and strode across the room.   
  
"I don't doubt that, either."   
  
"Really?" Willow turned to face him. "You came half-way around the world to tell me that?"   
  
Now it was Oz's turn to be frustrated. "No, I meant ..."   
  
"If you don't think I can do it then you obviously think I'm incompetent."   
  
Silence fell as Oz tried to think of a different way to reach her. "How's Amy?"   
  
"What does that have to do with anything?"   
  
"Everything." He crossed the room to join her. "Amy was more than competent. Look where she ended up."   
  
Willow laughed. "I'm so much more powerful than she ever was, than I was back then."   
  
"And you didn't used to be so conceited either." When Willow had no response to that, Oz continued. "The point is, she got into something that was way over her head. And you still can't undo it."   
  
"That's different," she protested. "A spell cast by someone else is so much more difficult to break, and the circumstances ..."   
  
Oz interrupted this time. "Circumstances don't matter. She got herself into a situation that she can't fix. Magic is dangerous, Willow. People can get hurt."   
  
"Only if someone screws up."   
  
"Not true," Oz pointed out. "What about the spirit you created when you brought Buffy back? You didn't screw up, you just didn't know enough about the spell you cast."   
  
"But we dealt with it and moved on. Besides, that ..." Willow realized something. "Giles didn't know about that. How did you?"   
  
He looked at his shoes. "I talked to Tara."   
  
"Great. It's nice to know everyone I love is ganging up on me. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out." Deciding that the conversation was over, Willow headed toward the kitchen.   
  
But Oz was close behind. "We aren't ganging up on you, we care about you. And when neither of them could get through to you they asked me to try."   
  
"And I asked you to leave," Willow said quietly, seething.   
  
"No, you ordered me to leave. You never would have done that before, just like you never would have threatened Giles the way you did. So I know you're not yourself. And I'm not leaving until you figure that out, too."   
  
That did it. Willow turned on her friend. "Fine. We'll do it your way. Crudesco statua." There was a strange crackling noise, and a bright flash. When the air cleared an Oz shaped statue stood in the middle of the kitchen, frozen in granite with his hands in his pockets and his mouth open as if he was about to speak.   
  
"You don't wanna leave?" Willow leaned in to inspect her handiwork. "Well now you can't." Slightly tired from the energy expended in the argument and the spell, she decided to get a glass of water from the fridge.   
  
Sipping her drink, Willow contemplated the stone figure on the other side of the counter. In a way, she had kind of proved his point for him. Using magic against her friends was something she definitely would not have done in the past. Still, he had asked for it. He had walked into her house and demanded that she change her life, without hearing her side of the story.   
  
But she couldn't leave him like that forever. Hopefully the spell had caught him so fast he wouldn't even know she what she had done. And if he did realize it, there were always forgetting spells. Regardless, she had to do something.   
  
"Lentesco," she murmured as she rinsed her glass and placed it in the drying rack. "Look, Oz, I'm sorry. Can we talk about this later, cool down a bit first?" When no one answered Willow turned from the sink.   
  
Cold stone eyes stared back at her.   
  
Odd. Willow decided she must not have spoken clearly the first time. "Lentesco." A bit more forcefully that time, and with a wave of her hand.   
  
Nothing.   
  
Desperate, Willow began using every phrase she could think of. "Ilicet magus! Adflicto scelestus! Uh ... rectus hominis!"   
  
Still nothing.   
  
Xander arrived a little over an hour later. Growing concerned at Willow's absence and the fact that no one was answering the phone, he had decided to stop by and see what was going on. He found her crying at Oz's statue feet, his stone mouth frozen open in condemnation.   
  
  
~*~ Ailie McFarland ~*~   
  
That'll put marzipan in your pie plate, Bingo!   
  
I may be a cold blooded jelly doughnut, but my timing is impeccable. 


End file.
